1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle speed control apparatus that automatically controls a body speed of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has widely been known this type of vehicle speed control apparatus. For example, the following patent reference 1 discloses a running control apparatus that detects a body-speed-maintenance requiring operation by a driver by the operation (ON-operation) of an automatic running switch by the driver, and performs an automatic control so as to maintain the vehicle body speed at a target vehicle speed.    [Patent Reference 1]    Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-089314
In the apparatus disclosed in the above-mentioned reference, the driver has to operate the automatic running switch in order to start the automatic control of a vehicle body speed. In other words, in case where the driver requires the start of the automatic control of the vehicle body speed (i.e., in case where the body-speed-maintenance requiring operation is performed), the driver is required to operate the components other than the “components for changing the vehicle speed”, such as an accelerator pedal, brake pedal, or the like. As a result, there arises a problem of the operation by a driver being complicated.